At last, they lost ground to the Carnivora. The Carnivora are the only group to survive today. The last creodont genus went extinct 8 million years ago, and modern carnivores now occupy their ecological niches.

The first creodont fossils were in the Palaeocene, about 60 million years ago (mya), and the last Dissopsalis, perhaps 8 mya. So, the creodonts lasted for at least 50 million years.

Creodonts show various adaptations to their carnivorous life-style, and show convergent evolution with modern carnivores. They share, for example, the carnassial shear, a modification of teeth that sliced meat like scissors.

The Carnivora also developed larger brains and more efficient running. Once forest and woodland was partly replaced by grassland, in the Miocene, the true carnivores had the advantage, and the creodonts lost ground and eventually became extinct.